The Dead Are Registered, But Do They Vote?

A new report from the Pew Center on the States finds widespread irregularities and inaccuracies in voter registration rolls, including nearly two million dead people who remain registered to vote. As the NYT reports, approximately one-in-eight active voter registrations is “invalid or inaccurate.” From the NYT:

The report found that there are about 1.8 million dead people listed as active voters. Some 2.8 million people have active registrations in more than one state. And 12 million registrations have errors serious enough to make it unlikely that mailings based on them will reach voters.

“These problems waste taxpayer dollars, undermine voter confidence and fuel partisan disputes over the integrity of our elections,” said David Becker, director of election initiatives at the center.

Mr. Becker warned that poor record keeping at the registration stage is not evidence of fraud at polling places. “These bad records are not leading to fraud but could lead to the perception of fraud,” he said.

The report also found over 50 million people who are eligible to vote are not properly registered.